MSNBC's Harris-Perry Asks If Abortion Comedy Can Be a Sex-Ed 'Tool' for Mothers to Teach Daughters

It would have been shocking if the abortion comedy Obvious Child hadn’t been celebrated on Melissa Harris-Perry’s weekend show on MSNBC. But the spin on Sunday morning’s program could not have been expected.

“MHP” wanted to know if abortion opponents just couldn’t handle the uncomfortable truth about women’s sexuality and how women’s bodies operate. She asked Obvious filmmaker Gillian Robespierre if her abortion comedy could be a good educational “tool” for mothers to share with their daughters as they mature, and the answer led to the term “laminated uterus.” (Video below)

HARRIS-PERRY: But I wonder if, in fact, parents often don`t want to have conversations about this because of their fear of what adult women's sexuality looks like and the idea of their daughters ever being there. Does a narrative, humorous kind of complicated film like that potentially even operate as a tool for moms and daughters to have conversations they might not otherwise have?

Try and imagine the conversations this film is supposed to spur. "Mom, did you have an abortion before I was born? Will you support me when I have one, especially if I seem far too immature to be a mother?" Then it turned into a pitch for biology lessons:

ROBESPIERRE: My mom was great about it. She drew me a diagram of my fallopian tubes --

HARRIS-PERRY: I love it.

-- and my ovaries and then she laminated it, because everything was laminated from my bus pass to the diagram of my vagina. (Laughter) And we were really open about it. And I think that`s the starting point, for at least for my mom and me and our story. which was to not shy away from those moments where, you know, the moment where you have to tell your daughter that she has to wear deodorant for the first time. That was really embarrassing to me. And so was the idea of having to wear a bra. But we talked about it. We made jokes about it and there was no shame.

HARRIS-PERRY: Yep. I have one of those shame-free moms as well. She wrote a book in graduate school called "How to Have Intercourse Without Getting Screwed," all about contraception. So, you grow up with that kind of mom, you have a laminated uterus --

ROBESPIERRE: That's embarrassing.

HARRIS-PERRY: Yeah, that's just embarrassing. So thank you for the film Obvious Child. It is really fantastic.

As much as these women like the notion that pro-lifers can't handle the liberated sexuality of young women, they can't seem to understand that pro-life parents could educate their children completely about how pregnancy happens and how the baby develops in the womb.

These women won't address the moral blindness of this abortion comedy, which aches to dismiss the unborn child as a small speed bump on the way to an immature woman's happiness.

Federal employees and military personnel can donate to the Media Research Center through the Combined Federal Campaign or CFC. To donate to the MRC, use CFC #12489. Visit the CFC website for more information about giving opportunities in your workplace.